Larger Connection

The Brian's won me over.  I enjoyed this week's piece Being Brians.  I have thought about how many Angela Mae Payabans there are in the world. I'm positive I am the only one though.  Automatically, I was excited for the author Brian, who was searching for all the other Brian Doyles.  One section that stood out was page 171. The obituary made this piece more real.  It reminded me that the was more to just the fun of figuring out how many same named people there were, but these were really people.  They all have the same name, they are all linked in that way. 

My favorite part comes after the obituary.  The author writes, "It doesn't show the shape of his ambition, the tenor of his mind, the color of his sadness, the bark of his laugh. It doesn't say with what grace or gracelessness he bore his name, how he was carved by it, how his character and personality and the bounce in his step were shaped and molded by its ten letters, how he learned slowly and painstakingly to write BRIAN DOYLE..." This whole section was touching, especially learning how to write his name.  I never thought about people learning to write their name. A name is so personal. When you're little, that name is solely yours. Imagine, someone else claiming that name as their own, writing that name. 

I was surprised that the other Brian Doyles were good writers too. I loved reading their life stories and seeing how different each Brian Doyle was. It just showed me how we can make many connections throughout life. We can connect through schools, churches, by being in the same shoe size, or by having the same name. Yet, at the same time we are different.  In our differences we have connections in other ways with other people, making a larger world-wide connection.  It's quite amazing. 

I liked his reflection. The line that stood out was, "so we have essayettes in our mouths all day long, and trade them like kisses." We need to tell stories.  We need to tell what is true.  We just need to start. :) 

Angela Payaban